“When you look into muddy or choppy water, you will not see your face reflected. If you want the face of Christ, who looks on you, to be reflected within you, come away from the disturbance of exterior things, and let your soul be at peace.”
~ St. Anthony of Padua
Feast Day: June 13
Born: August 15, 1195
Died: June 13, 1231 (35 years old)
Beatified: May 30, 1232
Canonized: May 30, 1232 by Pope Gregory IX
- St. Anthony is known as an Italian saint, but he was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal.
- The name given to him at birth was Fernando Martins de Bulhões. He took the name Anthony when he became a Franciscan friar.
- Before he was a Franciscan, he spent 10 years as an Augustinian friar after entering that order at the age of 15.
- St. Anthony is known as The Hammer of Heretics because of his eloquent and persuasive preaching. He was a gifted preacher and had a command of Sacred Scripture that was particularly effective with non-Christians.
- St. Anthony is a Doctor of the Church.
- St. Anthony is one of the great miracle workers of Christianity. One of his greatest miracles was his preaching to the fishes.
- He is the patron of many causes. They include lost items, the poor, sailors and fishermen, priests, travelers, finding a spouse, mail carriers, amputees, animals, Brazil, the elderly, horses, pregnant women, and protection from shipwrecks. Whew!
- St. Anthony is depicted in art with the tonsure and in the brown habit of the Franciscans.
- He is depicted carrying the Christ Child in his arms, with lilies as a sign of purity, or with a book to indicate his designation as a Doctor of the Church.
- He was only 36 years old when he died.
- St. Anthony was canonized only a year after this death.
- He was exhumed 336 years after his death. While his body was found to be corrupt, his tongue was intact and incorrupt. What a beautiful symbol of his gift of preaching!
- The Texas city San Antonio was named after him by a Franciscan priest, Father Damien Massanet, who was traveling with Spanish missionaries in 1692.
